


Beach Book | Draco Malfoy

by weasleycult (orphan_account)



Category: Harry Potter - Fandom
Genre: Cliche, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Implied Sexual Content, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-31
Updated: 2018-09-03
Packaged: 2019-06-19 03:42:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15501558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/weasleycult
Summary: "If you want to play, well I'm down to play. But it's by my rules and dare I say that I only know one game."Cosima Solaine has never been an easy fight. She is stubborn, headstrong. She is too caring for her own good. She puts her heart in the hands of others without a second thought about what they may do. She is a firecracker, and no one ever knows what direction she'll shoot off into. She is the perfect challenge for Draco Malfoy.But challenges are never as easy as they first appear. And what's in store is a lot more than either of them planned to ever get involved in.





	1. The Beginning of the Beginning

It all began very mundane. One small incident after the next, snowballing into something greater than anyone involved could fathom. The future, at the time, seemed so distant. No one could know what was to come. 

But it would surely be a fight. And Cosima was never one to back down from a fight. 

“I just don’t like her. You can’t deny that there’s something off about her, Rowan!” 

“I know, Cos, but you can’t just go around yelling at teachers whenever you please!”

Cosima huffed, realizing that she had no argument to defend herself. Sticking up for herself, for her friends, for her family, was the right thing to do. That doesn’t mean it was necessarily smart. 

Even besides that fact, Cosima was admittedly feeling a bit down. She’d never gotten in trouble her entire academic career, not even with Professor Snape. This was something new for her entirely and she didn’t like it one bit. 

And having detention with Professor Umbridge didn’t make it any better. She would rather spend the entire day with Filch than a second with Umbridge. 

Admittedly, she was upset with Rowan for not being more understanding. Rowan Gold had been Cosima’s best friend since their first year at Hogwarts. They’d been with each other through everything. Everything. 

So maybe she was in a bit of a sour mood. But regardless, she forced herself to do a complete turnaround. Besides, she didn’t have detention today. No reason to fuss over it now and further her anger. 

“I, for one, think what you did was admirable.” 

Cosima looked up from the chicken on her plate to meet the eyes of Ernie Macmillan, a fellow Hufflepuff in her year. She offered him a small smile, but nothing else. While he was supportive, she hadn’t missed the snide remarks his friend, Zacharias Smith, had been making about both her and Harry Potter. 

In fact, that was all most people seemed to be doing. However, the focus was mainly on Harry Potter. And while Cosima felt bad for him, she was grateful that the attention wasn’t on her. 

Actually, she was extremely grateful that the attention wasn’t on her. Harry had almost immediately become the talk of the town and that was just what Cosima needed. 

She nearly considered thanking Harry for being such an eye catcher. But then she decided that she really didn’t want to talk to him. 

So she took one last bite of chicken, forced the rest of her pumpkin juice down her throat, and got up to go to the Hufflepuff dorms to sleep. In the moment, sleeping was the only thing she wanted to do. 

“I need to go,” she mumbled to Rowan, who simply gave her a smile and bid her goodnight. But Cosima still saw it in her smile—the pity. She hated it more than anything. 

It seemed that luck was certainly not in her favor. Immediately after she stepped out of the Great Hall, she heard her name being called. Cosima couldn’t help but to wonder what she had done to receive such bad karma. 

“Yes, Professor?” Cosima asked, plastering what she hoped was a convincing smile on her face. She certainly didn’t want Professor McGonagall to think she had an attitude. 

“I know that it is only the first day of classes. And I know your summer has been….less than desirable. However, I would like to request a favor of you,” McGonagall started slowly and cautiously. Cosima knew that whatever was coming next, she wouldn’t like very much. 

Regardless, Cosima nodded, telling McGonagall to continue. She desperately needed to be on her good side. 

“As you know, you have been top of your class consistently. Absolutely spectacular. I don’t doubt you will be this year as well. However, there is a student in your class whom I think will be grossly unprepared for OWLs. Professor Snape has requested that I ask you to tutor the student. I told him it would be no problem, with your kindness and intelligence.” 

Cosima could put two and two together quite easily. Professor Snape didn’t ask favors for just anyone. In fact, she could only think of one person he would do it for. Draco Malfoy. 

While Draco had never been consistently rude to her, he was very spiteful in general. Their few interactions had not been very pleasant. 

Upon the realization that she was being asked to tutor Malfoy, Cosima wanted to reel back and ask Professor McGonagall why she would ever do something like that. 

But then she realized how badly she needed to be on McGonagall’s good side. So she smiled, nodded, and feigned oblivion as McGonagall continued. 

“I know you will have a lot of work, not just from me, but I believe that you can handle it.” 

“Of course, Professor! I would love to help another student. Especially in Transfiguration!” Cosima hoped she sounded believable. Judging by the look on McGonagall’s face, she had convinced her enough. 

McGonagall nodded, the tip of something else already on her lips. She seemed more hesitant than before to spit out whatever was on her mind. 

“In order to make things even, I have also asked Professor Snape for a favor. The student, Draco Malfoy, will assist you in Potions.” 

Cosima wanted to be upset, but she couldn’t find it in her. After all, Draco was Snape’s favorite student and undeniably talented when it came to Potions. And she could use the extra help. 

“There’s one more thing,” McGonagall started, looking even more serious than before. “The Malfoy boy is very…sensitive. Approach the subject carefully. He already knows he’ll be helping you.” 

Cosima nodded, not trusting her words to be anything but unkind. Of course Draco was sensitive, if you put it nicely. His ego got in the way of everything he did. 

“You will be together in Potions and Transfiguration. This way, you can assist each other both in and out of class. You are a bright student, and a kind one at that. I’m truly sorry to ask so much of you, but you seemed like the perfect person.” 

Cosima allowed a small smile to take the place of the vacant look on her face. 

As she bid McGonagall goodnight, Cosima thought about how easily that conversation lifted her mood. Hearing praise, from Professor McGonagall no less, was a feeling she absolutely loved. 

Hufflepuffs were always sorely mistreated, in Cosima’s opinion. This would be a perfect opportunity to prove herself; to make a good name for Hufflepuffs. And to two rotten Slytherins, no less! Cosima was truly excited for the chance. 

Besides, although Cosima would never admit to anyone else, tutoring Draco Malfoy was a big plus. She would get to look at a handsome face basically whenever she pleased. And if they were focusing on schoolwork, nothing too terribly foul could possibly leave his mouth.

Cosima found herself in bed, still thinking about the Prince of Slytherin and how well that nickname suited him. She was always a sucker for romance stories, she thought, laughing quietly to herself.

A love story with Draco Malfoy was inconceivable. Anyway, a pretty face didn't matter with a personality as ugly as that.

So she drifted to sleep, her mind at ease. But somehow, thoughts about that pretty boy found their way into her otherwise sweet dreams. 

 

*********

This chapter is more of an immediate prologue than the first chapter, so it is very short! I promise that all of my chapters will not be this short, and the rest will actually be much longer. I know this chapter is extremely vague and sucky, and I'm sorry! Have a good day/night.


	2. Situations

Cosima awoke the next morning feeling quite strange. For one, there was no sunlight peeking through the curtains, leaving the room blanketed in the dark. And the snores coming from around her threw her off as well.

Although Cosima wasn’t the last awake and liked to believe she was a morning person, her roommates were up at dawn. She couldn’t recall the last time she woke up and didn't hear Susan rambling on and on about absolutely nothing. 

But now, in the absence of light and conversation, Cosima began to wonder exactly how early it was. She seriously didn't want her suspicions to be confirmed. Then again, Cosima couldn’t remember the last time she got what she wanted.

Her bedside clock read ‘4:11 AM’, meaning she didn't need to be awake for another 2 and a half hours. That didn't matter, of course, because there was absolutely no way she’d be going back to sleep now. The realization hit her, just how awake she was, and she couldn’t help the groan that left her mouth. What was she to do for 2 and a half hours?

Quite frankly, the only thing she could think of was to stay in bed and wait for everyone else to get up. But that sounded awful. Then she thought of going to the Common room, but there were a lot of windows, and she frightened easily. 

So she did the only reasonable thing she could think of; take an hour-long shower. It sounded quite lovely at the moment, seeing how stressed she already was. A shower would calm her down, make her feel at ease again. Showers were nice places to think, and Cosima had a lot on her mind. 

The shower didn't give her time to think. In fact, the shower seemed to make her more stressed than she was when she got in. Cosima couldn’t help but think about everything that was wrong--not with her life in general, but rather with the shower. The water was too hot, then it was too cold, and she was sure there was something she could do to fix it but she didn't know what.

And then she was scared. For some reason, her mind kept drifting off to this one Muggle movie Rowan showed her. She didn't remember the name; all she remembered was that poor girl getting butchered in the shower. If anyone wanted to butcher her, she wouldn’t have her wand to defend herself.

Once she was stuck on the thought of succumbing to a horrible, bloody demise naked in the shower, she decided it was time to get out. 

When she did, she heard the suddenly comforting noise of Susan trying to wake Hannah Abbott. She let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding and smiled to herself. Surely she would be safe from a butchering now. 

Susan didn't miss the chance to make a comment on Cosima being up so early, or on her hogging the good shower. Cosima just grinned and shrugged, flopping her toweled body onto her bed. This definitely earned another comment from Susan, this time about flashing the entire dorm.

Through the curtains, Cosima could see the sky clearly, the dark blue fading into light oranges and pinks. It was a nice feeling to be up and watch the sunrise, and it was something she loved to do whenever possible. Unfortunately for her, she was either sleeping or on the run. Calming things like watching sunrises were out of her grasp. 

“Are you excited for today?” 

Cosima gasped, hearing Rowan before she saw her. The easiest thing in the world to do was scare Cosima. Although it was something she viewed as a silly flaw, many others found it cute. She figured that was a bit of an upside, even if she didn't rather enjoy that either.

“You can’t do that to me, Ro!” Cosima hissed, lightly hitting her grinning friend on the arm.

“But it’s so fun,” Rowan teased, situating herself on Cosima’s bed. Cosima noticed she was already dressed and wondered when she had woken up, and how Cosima hadn’t realized. 

Cosima also took it as her cue to get dressed. Ignoring Rowan’s response, Cosima stood up and dropped her towel. She leaned over to her chest, where she had put her uniform the night before and quickly pulled on her undergarments. 

She had been rooming with these girls for years now, and they were all used to Cosima being naked. She always thought it was silly to care so much about covering up, especially in a room full of a bunch of girls she sleeps with every night. And so she didn't. But she did still prefer at least having her underwear on.

Cosima still remembered the year before, when Rowan had let it slip to Justin Finch-Fletchley, a fellow Hufflepuff, that Cosima sometimes slept without clothes on. No matter how many times Rowan explained, Cosima was still unable to find a valid reason as to how that came up in conversation. 

But it wasn’t Rowan that she was mad at. Justin had spent nearly three months mocking and badgering Cosima. Some of the things he said weren’t exactly the most appropriate, and none of them were very nice at all. He swore he thought they were flattering. 

Justin also had a loud mouth. And while it was no surprise that the entire house knew about Cosima’s sleeping arrangements, it was a surprise that someone cared enough to get Justin to finally shut his mouth. Someone that actually could, that is, because he didn't really care what any of the fourth year girls had to say.

However, he did care what Cedric Diggory had to say. The day Cedric found out what Justin was talking about was the same day he stopped talking about it.

Cosima had been very fond of Cedric Diggory. He was the perfect man, after all. And it stung her heart deeply to have to always use the past tense with him. She wondered what the year would be like without him, for his family, and every year after.

She shook her head, ridding herself of her long and upsetting train of thoughts. With one last tug on her tie, she flopped back onto her bed, much more gracefully than before. 

“Not looking forward to today,” she mumbled into her sheets, hoping Rowan could understand her. She was trying really, really hard to be optimistic. And honestly, it wasn’t Potions in the morning that was bothering her or knowing she would have to sit with Malfoy. She could get over all that. It was detention.

“Detention won’t be that bad! I’ll spend all day keeping your mind occupied. You know how good I am at that!” 

Rowan was right. If there was anyone better at rambling than Cosima, it was Rowan. 

Cosima put her face as far into the bed as possible and let out a short yell. She hadn’t even had a chance to tell Rowan about tutoring Draco. Or Draco tutoring her. On second thought, she didn't want to. 

She was sure that Snape would come up with some excuse as to why she had to sit next to Draco. Honestly, she wasn’t sure if Snape knew that she knew. So she figured she would just walk into class and sit with Rowan. If he wanted to stop her, then he could. And he would.

The girls walked to breakfast with one of their good friends, Neville Longbottom, a Gryffindor in their year. The three shared a common interest in Herbology and had bonded quite easily. Cosima thought it was nice to be around a nice boy for once. 

“You’re filling out well, Neville! Might even get yourself a girlfriend this year,” Rowan exclaimed, elbowing him in the side with a very indiscreet gesture towards Cosima.

He had actually asked her to the Yule Ball the year before, and she would have said yes, but she found herself horribly under the weather. She thought him and Ginny Weasley made a rather cute couple, anyway. 

But Cosima was certain that he had asked her as friends. Neither of them had anyone to go with, so it was only logical that they take each other. They both knew there were no romantic feelings involved. 

Neville simply laughed, his ears and cheeks resembling that of a cherry. Rowan let out a loud laugh, Cosima stifled a giggle. He made it too easy sometimes. 

In the Great Hall, Neville went to sit with his Gryffindor friends while Cosima and Rowan sat at the end of the Hufflepuff table beside a group of third years. Cosima couldn’t remember their names, but Rowan seemed to know them pretty well. 

Not really in the mood to eat, and not really knowing the people around her, Cosima allowed her eyes to wander across the tables. Of course, she already had a destination in mind. 

Whenever she found the blond boy, he was pushing his food around on his plate absentmindedly while talking to the people around him. She noticed how easily he seemed to be able to draw attention to himself. It was like he was the moon, and everyone around him was the waves, pulled to him without really knowing why.

No one at the table seemed to care though. They were all very immersed in what he was saying, or they were really good at pretending to be. Draco didn't seem to care either way as long as the attention was still on him.

Cosima wondered how it would be having to talk to him all the time. She hoped that, as time went on, he would at least be decent with her. Based on what she heard about him, that was very doubtful. But a girl could dream.

She walked to Potions with that dream still in mind. After all, he would have to be decent if he wanted her help, right? Right. 

Besides, this seemed a bit like fate to her. Slytherins usually had Potions with the Gryffindors (Cosima assumed it was something to do with sadistic Professor Snape loving the negative energy in the room), but this year, they had Potions with the Hufflepuffs. 

Maybe it was fate. If it was, Cosima wondered what she had done in past life to deserve a fate as bittersweet at this one. It surely wouldn’t be all bad, though. 

The dungeons felt as they usually did: cold and not the least bit welcoming. Cosima always thought it was something to do with Snape, seeing as he was also very cold and unwelcoming. If anyone was the staple Slytherin, it would be Snape. 

Cosima didn't think all Slytherins were bad or that all bad people were Slytherins, but she did have a hard time trusting them. It was something she felt bad for, but thus far, no one had ever given her a reason to feel differently. 

She slid into her normal seat beside Rowan, but Snape snapped the second her butt touched the seat. Her assumptions had been correct.

“I will not deal with your insufferable talking this year, Solaine. Sit beside Mister Malfoy. At least this way, we might not have to deal with your loud mouth.” 

It wasn’t something unexpected from Snape. To speak to students in such a manner was the norm for him, and even though she saw it coming, it still stung. Cosima couldn’t stand being spoken down to, but it was something she would have to deal with.

“You’re lucky you get to ride on my coattails all year, Solaine,” Malfoy muttered under his breath as soon as she got to where he was sitting. The look on his face really tied her whole mood together.

She did feel a little better after seeing Pansy Parkinson shooting her daggers, though. If anyone was drawn to Draco, it was Pansy. She treated him as if he truly were a prince. And she was clearly possessive over him. 

“I could say the same for you,” she muttered back, hoping Snape wouldn’t see her. 

Cosima felt her nerves rising hearing Snape talk about his NEWT level classes. Potions was her worst subject, but it was something she needed to continue. She doubted she would be able to, but hoped that she would with Draco’s help.

Looking at the blackboard alone was enough to make Cosima sweat. The Draught of Peace seemed too precise and too complicated. She had absolutely no idea how she was going to do this. She knew Snape, and even if she was doing his star student a favor, there was only so much helping he would allow.

Bitterly, Cosima wondered how much helping Draco would even do. It was worth it to give it a shot, though. Nothing too terrible could happen.

“Draco?” Cosima mumbled quietly, hoping it was loud enough for him to hear. She didn't want him to think she was disrespecting him when she needed his help. It was very easy to make Draco feel like he was being disrespected.

His head snapped up, a slightly confused expression on his face. One which only deepened once he made eye contact with Cosima. He raised his eyebrow, giving her a once-over she didn't appreciate at all.

She felt extremely self-conscious then, realizing that she was probably beet-red and covered in sweat. She could practically feel the frizz in her hair. She knew she must look an absolute mess.

“What do you want, Solaine?” He snapped, turning back to his cauldron. He seemed to ignore the rare and uncomfortable use of his first name, which she was grateful for; she didn't want to admit that she was being a suck-up. 

“Um….does this look right to you?” Cosima asked, somehow softer than before. Something about Draco’s presence made her feel so small.

Draco let out a dramatic sigh, turning his focus to her once more.

Cosima knew Snape was checking the class now, and being the only Hufflepuff in a sea of Slytherins made her even more worried about messing up. She would rather somehow have Draco help her first before getting humiliated by Snape in front of everyone. 

While he was explaining to her how to properly stir her potion, Snape passed by their table. Very quickly, she might add, without even checking either of their potions. Maybe working with Draco wouldn’t be all that bad. 

Cosima was one of the last people out of the class, and by one of the last, she meant the only other people in the class were Draco and Snape. Needless to say, it was the most awkward she’d felt in her whole life.

“Am I in trouble, sir?” Cosima asked Snape, gripping onto her bag so tightly she felt her fingers were going to fall off. She had already gotten detention with Umbridge; she certainly didn't need more with Snape.

“Don’t act daft, Solaine. Both of you know the arrangements that have been made. I want to stress that you need to be helping each other, differences aside. How would your father feel knowing that you were failing a class as easy as Transfiguration?” Snape directed the last part to Malfoy, still not taking his eyes off of Cosima.

She felt very uncomfortable then. Not many people knew what happened to her father, but if anyone at Hogwarts did, it was Snape. She didn't know much about Snape except that he knew her father. And that was about the only thing she knew about her father.

“Helping and cheating are two different things. Don’t be stupid.” 

That part certainly felt directed towards Cosima, and she felt her cheeks heat up. She looked past Snape to the blackboard to avoid eye contact, something she tended to do when she was nervous or upset. Right now, she was a little bit of both.

“That’s all. Now leave.” 

Cosima never turned to leave a classroom so fast, but she was almost immediately stopped by Draco. She had to hold in a groan because that surely would not have gone by very smoothly with him.

“We need to meet in the library so I can help you with the essay,” he said simply, cutting straight to the point. 

“I can’t.” Cosima didn't feel like letting Draco know she had detention. Of course, he knew she was in trouble, the entire fifth-year class did, but that was it. She had taken it amongst herself to speak to Umbridge even more after class ended, for some odd reason.

“And why is that?” Draco asked, his tone bordering the line between curious and antagonizing.

“I have detention,” she said, her voice hardly above a whisper. And yet, he still heard.

Draco rolled his eyes, mumbling something under his breath that she couldn’t quite pick up. She was sure that it wasn’t something very pleasant anyway.

“Fine then. Lunch, tomorrow, we’ll go to the library. While we’re there, we can practice the Vanishing Spell as well. I won’t be the only one helping out here.”

Without even waiting for a response, he pushed past her (literally pushed) and left the classroom. 

The rest of the day went by very uneventfully. In Herbology, Neville told Cosima and Rowan about Care of Magical Creatures and how Draco never kept his mouth shut. Rowan told Neville that Cosima was being forced to sit next to Draco for the entire year in Potions.

Cosima ate her dinner as slow as humanly possible. She was grateful for Rowan and Hannah’s attempts to cheer her up, but they just weren’t working. She was terrified to go to detention, and that was an understatement. 

Just when she stood up, McGonagall approached the Hufflepuff table. It was clear that she was heading straight for Cosima.

“Hello, Professor,” Cosima said with a forced smile, hoping she didn't sound as upset as she was. 

“I have some good news for you,” McGonagall said, gently taking Cosima by the elbow and pulling her away from the table.

“Yes, Professor?” Cosima asked eagerly. She could really use some good news. 

“Professor Snape and I believe that you and Mister Malfoy need time to get to know each other so that you can truly help each other. We believe it will be easier to do so at the beginning of the year. So, your detention has been moved back indefinitely.”

Cosima felt like she could scream, or maybe cry, or maybe hug McGonagall. She knew none of those things were a good idea. 

It felt so surreal. Umbridge didn't seem like the type of person to like being told what to do. Cosima wondered how McGonagall convinced Umbridge to do such a thing. However it may have happened, Cosima was just extremely grateful that it did.

“However, when you serve your detentions, you will have to serve them for an entire week. Weekends included. Professor Umbridge has agreed that she will wait at least a month before making you serve your detentions.”

Cosima wasn’t truly processing what McGonagall was saying at the moment. She only cared about the fact that there would be no detention right now. The future was the future, and she would cross that bridge when she got to it. 

“I can’t thank you enough, Professor.”

“You can start by ensuring that you and Mister Malfoy pass all of your OWLs. Now, I believe he should be waiting for you in the library. Go on, Miss Solaine.”

Cosima grinned the widest grin she could muster and practically ran towards the library. She completely missed the odd look she received from Neville.

Once she reached the library, she was nearly out of breath. Being so scared that Umbridge would chase her down the hall and force her to serve detention, Cosima wanted to get to Draco as fast as possible. Which was something she never thought she would be doing.

“Did someone chase you here, Solaine?” Draco remarked as Cosima slid into the seat across from him. She noted that she hadn’t been making the best impressions on him. So far, she had just been a sweaty mess.

“I wanted to be as far away from Umbridge as possible,” Cosima said raggedly, still trying to catch her breath. She wasn’t the most athletic girl. 

Draco raised his eyebrow but said nothing. Instead, he began pulling his supplies out of his bag and setting them on the table. He did so very quickly and very quietly. Cosima wondered if it would always be this quiet when they were together. She thought that she would much more prefer the loud-mouth Draco she knew. 

“We’re supposed to be getting to know each other, you know, Malfoy? So that we can help each other the most efficiently.” 

“I don’t want to get to know you, Solaine. I know enough about you to know you’re the type of company I don’t want to keep around.”

Cosima was taken back. It’s not like she expected Draco to suddenly turn into a sweetheart around her. She knew that would never happen. But she hoped they could at least have a polite conversation. 

“I can write an essay by myself,” she mumbled, a bitter tone lacing her words. She slumped back into the chair and crossed her arms. 

“Then I suppose you won’t need any help in Potions at all?”

Cosima didn't respond. Instead, she slid further down into the chair and pouted. She was never one to admit to others that she needed help, especially people like Draco. Her needs and dependency would always be thrown back in her face.

Draco scoffed, setting his quill down on the table. “Don’t act like a child, Solaine.”

Once again, Draco got no response. Cosima looked him straight in the eyes and shook her head, sliding down even more.

“You’re going to fall out of your chair. Sit up and start your essay.”

Cosima smiled at Draco and started pouring her stuff out onto the table. He simply rolled his eyes, clearly not interested in entertaining her childish ways. 

She started her essay in silence. Twelve inches of parchment didn't sound too horribly bad, and she was sure she could write about the properties of moonstone without Draco’s help. There was no way it could be that difficult.

However, after merely a few minutes of staring at a blank piece of parchment, she realized that it was. She looked up from her parchment to see how far along Draco had gotten and was surprised when she saw his loopy handwriting going down the parchment.

She looked up at him in surprise. He, however, was still focused on writing. He had a textbook open beside him, one that she had no idea he even possessed and was writing with an intimidating intensity. 

Cosima wasn’t afraid to admit that she found Draco attractive. And now, with the sleeves on his button-up rolled, his hair out of place from being pushed back, and that focused look in his eyes, she found him very attractive. 

She wasn’t trying to stare, but she couldn’t help it. Watching Draco do his homework seemed much more entertaining than doing her own. But the fun was quickly ruined.

Draco’s eyes met hers before she could react, and he raised his eyebrow once again. Cosima wondered if his face would get stuck like that, with one eyebrow raised and a scowl on his lips, because it looked that way quite often. 

“Problem, Solaine?” Draco asked, leaning back in his chair and putting his arms on the table.

She wished he would keep being rude to her. She thought that the more mean things that left his mouth, the less attractive she would find him. She could seriously not afford to be distracted by a prat as big as him. 

“I was waiting for you to get done. I need help.” Cosima thought that was a quick recovery, and Draco didn't mention anything else of her staring, so maybe it was.

“I thought you could write an essay on your own. Or did I not understand you right before?” 

With that question, he leaned forward in his chair, putting his chin in his right hand and staring up at her. Cosima knew he was enjoying this because he thought he was toying with her. But while she may have been a hormonal teenager, she was not an idiot.

“I don’t know anything about the properties of moonstone.”

“And why is that?”

“Because I don’t enjoy listening to Snape run his mouth.”

“And that’s why you’re going to fail Potions.”

Cosima glared at Draco but quickly recovered. She already told herself she wasn’t going to take this from Draco. She thought she should tell him how good of a job he was doing at making her unattracted to him, but then he would know that she had been attracted to him to start with.

So she mimicked Draco. With her chin in her hand, she tilted her head to the side and batted her eyelashes. She wondered how silly she looked, but continued nonetheless.

“Would you like to tell me why you’re going to fail Transfiguration?” 

Draco’s eyes widened a bit, and she saw the scowl settle itself on his features once more. It was a horrible look for him. But still, he was good at making a quick recovery.

So he leaned in closer. She was already nervous, but now she could hear her heart pounding in her head. He was closer to her than she had ever been with any boy in her entire life, and it was blatantly clear.

“Maybe I have something that’s been distracting me.”

Two could not play at this game. She shot back into her seat so fast that she nearly fell backward onto the floor. She knew that her face was turning red again, so she looked back down to her parchment. 

“Well, you should learn how to focus in class,” she mumbled, pretending to study her parchment as if she had written anything on it. Agreeing to spending any time with Draco was a bad idea.

Draco laughed. It was a horrendous sound that Cosima never wanted to hear again. 

“I could say the same for you,” he said, all traces of the teasing on his face gone.

It scared Cosima how easily he seemed to change facades. She couldn’t help but to wonder how many facades he actually had. That scared her even more.

Cosima started to pack her stuff up, but Draco opened his mouth once more.

“Hey! You have to help me, too,” he complained, his voice going higher.

“When did you help me?” Cosima asked, but stopped putting her things away regardless. 

“What do you need help with?” Cosima put her bag down and looked Draco in the eyes, something that was oddly hard to do. 

“The Vanishing Spell, obviously,” he grumbled, an annoyed expression evident on his face. 

Cosima motioned for him to try, leaning back in her chair to watch. Draco, however, did nothing but stare at her like she was an idiot. She raised her eyebrows at him in question, and nearly laughed to herself about the role reversal of the situation. 

“What am I supposed to vanish, exactly?” 

She wanted to make a joke. She knew, however, that she and Draco were not on joking terms. He would only find something funny if it were at her expense. 

“Something of yours, in case you mess up,” she decided to say, sitting up straight as he pulled another quill out of his bag. “Why not use the one you have already?”

He glared at her but didn't answer. Instead, he started practicing the Vanishing Spell. And he wasn’t doing very well at all.

So she spent the rest of the evening helping him, wondering if detention would have actually been all that bad compared to this. She was also wondering if she was going to benefit from this situation at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heey everyone! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. There's a few things I wanna go ahead and address right now!
> 
> 1\. I may change some plot points in this story to better fit my own, such as the Slytherins having Potions with the Hufflepuffs. This is my fanfiction and therefore telling Cosima's story is more important to me than telling Harry's.  
> 2\. I know Draco may seem OoC in this story at some points. I would like to say that I think Draco acts differently around others than he does with Harry. Based on his personality, I think that whenever his pride is being hurt by someone other than Harry or his friends, he's still a baby but just not such a big pissbaby. I also think that Draco is a flirt when he wants to be, especially because he truly does think he's better than everyone.
> 
> I also think that a big problem with writing fanfiction about Draco is some people seem to want to write him like Tom Riddle. Tom Riddle was manipulative and incapable of feeling love. Draco is simply a cowardice, scared little boy that has been both spoiled and mistreated his whole life. He is capable of feeling love and all sorts of emotions, and he is definitely a lot more dense of a character than the interactions we see between him and the Gryffindors and him and his friends. I really want to explore that.  
> 3\. I know this plot is overused and blah blah blah but I really like it, and quite frankly, it's hard to find a plot for a Draco fanfiction that isn't overused. I hope you enjoy my version of this cliche plot and give it lots of love.
> 
> There will probably be more I need to address as time goes on, but this is all for now! Pleeease leave comments and kudos so I know you're enjoying my story, and constructive criticism is welcome as well!


	3. Bordering

It wasn’t as if Cosima was purposely ignoring Draco. After all, she had no reason to do such a thing. She just didn't want to be around him longer than she needed to, especially after his anything but well treatment of her the night prior.

So maybe she didn't meet him at lunch. It wasn’t on purpose, that was one thing she could say genuinely enough. She truly didn't see a reason to meet him if they had met in the library the night before. It had completely slipped her mind, and she figured it would have slipped his too.

And she was absolutely looking forward to a day without Draco. Nothing to his offense or own doing (although she wasn’t exactly looking forward to having to speak to him again), but she was just very hormonal. And horribly enough, he was very handsome. Those two things did not go hand in hand very well. To fuel that fire, Cosima had never been good at keeping her cool.

This was why she felt a slight (huge) twinge of annoyance when Draco stopped her on the way to double Charms. It was a class she thoroughly enjoyed, and it helped that she was also good at it. She didn't have time to be late, especially not at his fault.

She was not scared to admit that she was feeling a bit intimidated. Draco had come alone, not bearing his bodyguards or his girlfriend, and he looked more annoyed than she felt. Although she had heard from Harry Potter, through Neville, that Draco wasn’t as brave as the front he put up, she still felt the stones stacking in her stomach.

Surely, he had to be all bark and no bite. 

“Usually when two people make an agreement, both parties hold up their end, Solaine.” 

“What in Merlin’s name are you talking about?” Cosima asked, yanking her wrist away from Draco with a sincerely perplexed expression on her face.

Draco rolled his eyes. She noticed that the only few remarkable things about him seemed to be the expressions he made when he was displeased. 

“If you want to leave me by myself for the entirety of lunch, that’s fine. But don’t expect me to be in the library tonight.” 

It hit Cosima then, what he was talking about, and she had to stop herself from saying something rude. Clearly, Draco’s ego had been blown by the thought of someone not waiting for him, not waiting on him. She didn't realize his pride ran this deep.

Nor did she realize that hers did the same. Not until the words slipped from her lips without her even meaning to say them.

“Then don’t. I’ll do this essay by myself.” She wanted to take the words back, but she knew that it was much too late for that. And perhaps they would have been blown off, if not for her saying them to Draco.

They both knew that Cosima hadn’t been able to write even one sentence on her own the night before. If Draco was going to bring it up, he showed no indication of it. However, he did give her a telling look, one that said they were thinking the same thing.

Neither of them said a word, though. Draco simply walked away and, as if on autopilot, Cosima jogged to Charms. She didn't have time to worry about this, but she knew she would. Who cared anyway? She had been able to pass Potions thus far.

As she entered Charms, she had decided that she didn't need Draco’s help. He seemed content on not utilizing her’s either. So that was decided, then. Secretly, she hoped that Draco would come the next night at least. 

In her opinion, he needed her help more than she needed his. He would never admit that or even truly see it, but she still found it to be true. Sure, she needed to get high marks in Potions to be a Healer, but she already had three backup plans. 

However, much to her dismay, back up plan A also required high marks in Potions. Okay, so maybe Cosima did really need Draco’s help. But that was beside the point.

“We have so much homework,” Rowan groaned as the duo headed to the Hufflepuff common room to drop off their bags. “I wish you were here to help me instead of doing dumb detention with that horrid lady.”

Cosima winced. Of course, she felt bad lying to Rowan, but she didn't want to deal with all the questions. Tutoring Draco wasn’t a big deal, nor was getting tutored by him, but Rowan had a tendency to leave important pieces of information out of her stories. Rowan also told a lot of stories. 

Besides, Cosima knew good and well Draco hadn’t told any of his friends. There was no way he would admit that he needed tutoring, much less by a ‘Horrible Hufflepuff’ as herself. Lying about something as mundane as this surely wouldn’t matter in the long run. 

Rowan wasn’t very good at picking up signals anyway. So when Draco was forced to sit beside Cosima in Transfiguration, Rowan just teased Cosima for being so remarkably boring. After class, she joked about teachers putting the two together because it was evident how much they hated one another. 

That had admittedly stung a bit. Cosima didn't want to think that Draco actually hated her, especially for no reason at all. But she remained quiet. She had no reason to be upset.

“I do too, Ro. Luckily, we’ll have plenty of homework to do on the weekend!” Cosima joked, earning a sharp glare from Rowan. She was very intelligent, but very lazy, which was something that Cosima envied greatly. 

“I’m actually going to study with Ernie, Justin, and Hannah in the common room tonight. Ernie is pretty good at Potions, Justin is good at Charms, and Hannah is good at just about everything else,” Rowan explained as they left the common room to head to dinner.

Cosima nodded. Although she didn't particularly enjoy Rowan being around Justin, she tried not to hold grudges. Plus, it was good that Rowan had other people to study with.

“And next week you can join us! It’ll be a nice study group.”

Without missing a beat, Cosima shook her head. The excuse was already leaving her mouth before she even realized she had come up with one. 

“You know I can’t study well with other people. I think I’ll spend this year studying in the library. I need all these classes to do anything I want to.” Cosima wasn’t lying at all. When she studied with other people, she got annoyed and couldn’t focus. And she really did need to pass her classes with flying colors. 

It also served as a good reason to be able to study with Draco. If that arrangement was even still happening. If not, well, she would be able to study alone and get some peace and quiet.

Cosima left the Great Hall a few minutes after Umbridge did, feigning disappointment at yet another night of detention. The wishes of luck from her friends made her feel bad, but even with Draco aside, no one could know she’d gotten off like that. 

She was extremely grateful to have her detention pushed back, but it didn’t feel fair. Besides, she didn’t spend too much time lingering on the thought. She liked to pretend she wouldn’t have detention at all. 

When Cosima arrived at the library, she was relieved to find that her table was empty. Her pride was still interfering with her rational decision making. Draco was the last person that she wanted to see. She also certainly wasn’t in the mood for his rude mouth. 

It took her a bit longer than she would have liked to get enough textbooks that could help her with her essay. It took her a bit longer than she would have liked to skim through all the textbooks. But that was all right because she was still doing it. 

And she did it. It certainly wasn’t the best, but she hoped it would be good enough. It had to be, after all. Especially seeing as she wasn’t going to be getting any help from Draco. Maybe if she did well on the essay, she could tell McGonagall she didn't want to help him anymore.

She already knew she wasn’t going to do that. She was a woman of her word, and she had something to prove. Plus, she would feel bad leaving Draco like that. Everyone needed help at some point, even though some were less deserving than others. 

Draco seemed to be very eager to prove just how undeserving he was. 

In Transfiguration, Draco didn't say a single word to Cosima, didn't even look at her. Not even when she asked him if he needed help. In Potions, he did the same. He didn't even make a remark when Cosima nearly ruined her potion, didn't even snicker. In Defense Against the Dark Arts, he hadn’t even glanced in her direction when Umbridge called her out.

They shared Astronomy and Study of Ancient Runes together, as well, and while they had never interacted with each other in the class before, she seemed to especially notice it during the week.

Cosima spent her time in the library alone. Mostly, she spent her time wondering how big exactly Draco’s ego was if he was still acting that way. One thing Cosima could find solace in was how unattractive his huge ego was.

Friday night, as Cosima was hunched over her parchment scribbling away, all former attraction to Draco simply disappeared. It was funny, she thought, just how easy it had been to see him in the right light. And the shadows didn't reflect his features so well.

When she got back to the Hufflepuff common room, her friends were all seated around the fireplace. Rowan, Hannah, Susan, Ernie, and Justin were there. She greeted them all happily, even mustering up a smile for Justin.

The reaction she got was surprising, to say the least. All at once, they cheered for her. Save for Justin, who stayed seated on the floor and lazily clapped. She wouldn’t have expected anything more from him. 

“What’s all this about?” Cosima asked wearily, setting her schoolbag down in one of the armchairs facing away from the fire. 

Rowan grabbed Cosima by the arm and pulled her down to the floor with everyone else. With an arm wrapped around her best friend, she explained the evening plans to Cosima. 

“We’re celebrating! We survived the first week, and you survived detention with Umbridge!”

Cosima wanted so badly to sink into the floor right then. It was easy to lie when she was prepared, or when she didn't really think she was lying. But these were some of her closest friends, and there was nothing now she could say that wouldn’t be a lie.

She hoped that after tonight, she wouldn’t ever have to talk about detention with Umbridge ever again. She really wouldn’t be able to lie. 

So, she didn’t. Well, she did. Just not about detention. About something that, although not entirely true, wasn’t completely a lie either. Somehow, she was fine with half-lies. 

“I really appreciate this! But I think you guys should party without me. I’m so tired from detention,” Cosima said with a frown. She couldn’t tell if it was genuine or not. 

However, it was very clear that Rowan’s was. 

So clear, in fact, that Cosima knew hers was as well. Without even meaning to, Rowan was making Cosima feel a lot worse. 

Cosima went to her dorm with a lot on her mind. She was grateful that it was empty because she felt like she would cry in front of anyone else. Nothing seemed to make sense and she was no longer able to justify her lies. 

For one, Cosima felt like she was acting stupid. Rowan wouldn’t be mad at her about lying about detention. Cosima was sure that, if she asked, Rowan wouldn’t tell anyone else about the tutoring. 

Except she wasn’t 100% sure. And she knew that, even if Rowan didn’t ‘accidentally’ leave details out, Cosima had a pride problem as well. She didn’t want anyone knowing she needed tutoring, especially from someone as daft as Draco. 

All of her thoughts were contradicting each other. It seemed like no matter how hard she thought, she couldn’t make up her mind. Which made her feel extremely silly, considering how small of a situation it was. 

Instead of running herself in circles, she decided to work on her Herbology essay. Herbology was something she enjoyed, so she figured it would be easy to occupy her mind. 

She sat down on the bed and began digging through her bag for her parchment, pulling out endless books while doing so. When she pulled out her Ancient Runes homework, a folded piece of paper fell onto her sheets. 

That loopy handwriting was almost immediately recognizable. It was the same print that had spread down Draco’s parchment nights before. Cosima wondered why she was seeing it again. 

Draco’s handwriting very evidently belonged to him. There was no sign on the paper of any ink blots, and his letters were strewn together so perfectly and effortlessly, but it was still clear where he had hesitated on his words. It reminded Cosima of Draco’s composure. 

Her eyebrows drew together as she scanned over the words on the parchment. It seemed like a fitting way to end her already messed up week. 

‘Meet me in the library tomorrow morning. -D’ 

It was straight to the point, with minimal formalities and absolutely no pleasantries. Of course it had come from Draco. This made her unexplainably angry at him. 

He had the nerve to ignore her completely and then turn around and expect her to come at his beckon call. Cosima didn't know who Draco thought he was, or who he thought she was. She wasn’t one of his call-girls that worshipped the ground he walked on. 

Cosima wouldn’t necessarily say that she had a short temper, but she could only handle so much. This was something that she wasn’t sure she could handle. It was actually pretty hard to make her legitimately angry, but a simple note from Draco seemed to do so immediately. 

Something along the lines of feeling like she was being pushed around; she hated it. But she wouldn’t say anything, of course, because she had a reputation to uphold. And because deep down she knew she was overreacting. 

That didn't stop her from being angry in all the heat of it, though. She had completely abandoned her Herbology homework, instead opting to read Draco’s note over and over. It was as if she hadn’t completely wrapped her head around just how full of himself he was.

She continued to stare at the note for, well, however long she did. In fact, she would have continued to do so if Megan Jones, her other dorm-mate, hadn’t walked in when she did.

“Hello, Cosima,” Megan said politely, setting her bag on her bed and heading towards their shared bathroom. 

Megan was in a very serious relationship with a sixth year Ravenclaw boy, and Cosima hardly saw her around except for classes and at curfew. She did seem nice, though, and Cosima was positive that she was. Especially considering that she was a Hufflepuff.

Cosima simply smiled in response, too focused on trying to inconspicuously put the note back in her bag. She knew that Megan being back meant that the other girls would be up soon. The last thing she needed was her friends thinking she was in some scandalous relationship. 

Plus, knowing Rowan, she would almost certainly follow Cosima to the library. Then Cosima would have an even harder time convincing Rowan, amongst others, that she wasn’t in some scandalous relationship. She already had too much to deal with. 

Speaking of….Cosima seemed to all at once be hit with the realization that OWLs were approaching soon. She needed to be on top of her game, didn’t have time to be worrying about Draco. 

She suddenly felt very silly. She was letting small inconveniences affect her far too much and worrying herself exhausted over nothing. There were far more important things to be worried about, like the increasing piles of homework she was sure to be receiving. 

When Rowan, Susan, and Hannah came into the dorms as Cosima was putting up her essay on self-fertilizing shrubs. Cosima was lucky enough to have completely finished it, so all she had to do over the weekend was Transfiguration and Study of Ancient Runes. Lucky for her, Professor Snape had taken up their assignments early. Their assignments that Cosima had begged Zacharias Smith to help her with. 

Studying alone had some great benefits, like finishing all your work quickly. Studying alone also had some faults, like having absolutely no one at your disposal. Especially in the subjects you lacked in. 

So maybe she was hoping that Draco was asking to meet so that they could continue their arrangement. 

She went to bed thinking about how much arguing they would do before it happened. Draco would certainly not apologize, and neither would Cosima. However, in her opinion, Draco was more at fault. 

When she woke up the anger had subsided. It was quickly replaced with annoyance, however, because it was 7 AM on a Saturday and she was awake. Definitely not of her own accord, of course. 

Rowan was standing over Cosima, hitting her shoulder repeatedly. Even when it was clear that Cosima was awake, Rowan continued to hit her. The smile on her face was enough of an indicator that she was enjoying herself far too much.

“You know I bruise easily,” Cosima mumbled, swatting Rowan’s hand away from her overly sensitive arm. 

“Please, I hardly touched you! Now get up. You’ve spent the first week locked up in that hag’s dungeon, now it’s time for us to spend time together.”

Could Cosima really not go a single day without the constant guilt of hiding her situation with Draco coming up? Apparently not, and she didn't like it. In fact, she didn't like it so much, that the entire thing seemed to pour right out of her mouth whenever she opened it. Completely not what she had planned, but her threshold for keeping secrets was surprisingly low. Especially when it came to keeping them for her best friend.

“I can’t hang out with you right now because I have to meet Draco Malfoy in the library because he’s supposed to be tutoring me in Potions and I have to tutor him in Transfiguration and I didn't tell you because I thought you would get upset and I’m sorry.”

Rowan laughed. She kept laughing for what seemed to be hours, and when she was done she was holding her stomach and out of breath. Cosima felt her heart sink lower the longer it had continued.

“You think I’d be upset with you over that? You should know me better,” Rowan teased, hitting Cosima’s arm one more time for good measure and returning to her own bed. “I’d imagine he’s eager to get some tutoring in now, considering he’s had to fend for himself the first week.”

So maybe Cosima hadn’t spilled the entire thing. But she felt too guilty for lying about being in detention with that woman, especially considering how torn up about it Rowan had been in her best friend’s favor. And especially considering that she hadn’t been with Draco either. 

Instead of addressing that little fib head-on, Cosima decided to switch gears. After all, there was a very important thing Cosima needed to ask of Rowan before she left to meet with that prat. 

“You promise you won’t tell anyone, please? Professor McGonagall asked me to keep it quiet, and I don’t think Draco would be too pleased either.”

“Of course not! You seem to think very low of me, Co.” 

Cosima spent nearly an hour hugging it out with Rowan. By the time they were done ‘hanging out’, the rest of the dorm was awake and ready to go. Megan had already left, Hannah was in the common room waiting for Susan and Rowan, and Susan and Rowan were giving fifty hugs to Cosima. 

Susan and Hannah were both disappointed that Cosima was too busy with homework to hang out, but she assured them that they could spend the entirety of Sunday together. That seemed to cheer them up greatly. 

Perhaps things were going to start looking up for Cosima.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I know things are still kind of boring and choppy but I'm still getting into the flow of the story. Regardless, I hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> Once again, if anything seems like it wouldn't happen or things along the lines of that, please remember that this is my story. I have to do certain things in order to get my plot to flow smoothly. 
> 
> Also, I should be uploading every Saturday/Sunday, so please expect that!! I'm very excited to continue this story and I hope you're enjoying it. Please, please leave feedback. It really gives me the motivation to continue. Tell me what you liked, what you disliked, what you'd like to see in the future! Even just kudos helps. Have a good night/day!


	4. Something Old, Something New

Desperate. Out of all the words Cosima could use to describe Draco, that would not be one to come to mind. It would probably be one of the last words anyone would think of, aside from compassionate and humble. 

Yet here he was. Still dignified, of course, like the well-respected man he considered himself to be. Though it was clear that he seriously needed Cosima’s help. And she was loving it. There was something oddly satisfying in knowing that Draco Malfoy needed her help, that he had come to her first. 

However, honestly speaking, had he not given her that note she would have been the one to seek him out. She got a D on her moonstone essay, nearly cried when it happened, and had shoved it in her bag before Draco could see. He, of course, did outstandingly on it. 

She was almost positive that she wouldn’t be able to do their most recent Potions essay on her own, and certain she would fail the year without him. It seemed like Snape had made a vow to make all of his students suffer this year, and it was working.

“Please explain to me again what the problem is,” Cosima derided, hoping to milk Draco’s desperateness for everything she could while she was able to. She had a feeling this would be one of the only, if not the only time this would happen.

For a quick second, the thought of Cosima’s mother flashed through her mind. It had made her feel sick to her stomach, wondering if enjoying this teasing could possibly lead to something more sinister. She tried to ignore the dropping feeling in her lungs. 

Draco leaned back, his trademark scowl on his face, and huffed. It was evident that he wasn’t enjoying this nearly as much as she was. Strange. 

“I’m having some trouble in Transfiguration. If you make me repeat this a fourth time I won’t help you with that essay on venom antidotes. And I know how much you need my help,” he retorted, the smug look on his face an indicator that he was sure he had won. 

He had, of course, because Cosima was thrown off her game for multiple reasons. The first one being her mother, the second being that she really couldn’t afford to lose Draco’s help again. Besides, it’s not as if she would have said no to begin with. She knew he needed help and she was wanting and willing to help him.

So she dropped it. It did make her feel a bit better, though, to think that maybe her and Draco could have a friendly jab at each other. After all, they would need to get along to get any work done. It would make it a lot easier on her end if she felt comfortable actually asking Draco for help.

“Do you think we could start with Potions first?” Cosima asked sheepishly, wringing her fingers as they rested in her lap. She was too embarrassed to admit how awful she had done on the moonstone essay. 

Much to her surprise, rather than badgering her about her grade, he simply agreed. She could only hope that things would continue on this way; easy and simple. 

For awhile, they did. In fact, everything seemed to be easy and simple for a bit. Things in her life were running smoothly for what felt like the first time ever and she didn't know how to properly describe the relief she was feeling at all times. Well, most times, anyway.

Of course, things weren’t perfect. Umbridge had begun inspecting the classrooms for reasons that, although Cosima knew, she didn't quite get. She came in during Divination, which was a bad experience for all accounts. She had also inspected her History of Magic class, which had unfortunately not been as entertaining.

The idea of Umbridge being around at any possible second made Cosima on constant alert. It felt as if Umbridge was draining the energy out of her and she hated every second she had to be around her. Cosima was just waiting for inspections to be over so she could feel some sense of certainty again. 

One odd thing that had been refilling her energy by the second was her tutoring sessions with Draco. When she came to the library feeling somehow empty and overwhelmed at the same time, it was somewhat comforting to have him there. Regardless of how, he was a big distraction. She had no doubt that the ease and relief she was feeling was connected to him; she just wasn’t sure if she liked that very much. 

“You know, I’d like to see Professor Umbridge inspect McGonagall,” Draco said suddenly, looking up from where he had been practicing the Vanishing Spell. 

“Why’s that?” Cosima asked, looking up from his quill to meet his eyes. Her energy had already been restored. 

“I’d bet it’d be a real show.”

“Funny. I’d imagine someone like you to be quite excited by the ministry’s input in these things. Are you not?” Cosima wasn’t trying to sound condescending, but it definitely felt that way once she had stopped talking. 

Apparently she wasn’t the only one to think so. Just as quickly as Draco had opened up, he had shut back down. She cursed herself mentally. One thing she would have to get better at was subconsciously establishing boundaries, especially when it came to Draco.

Right when she was about to backtrack, find some way to subtly apologize or change the subject, he seemed to have come up with a response.

“I’d love to see the ministry fire the incompetent professors.” 

Cosima rolled her eyes in response. It wasn’t a surprising response from Draco, but that didn't make it any better. She wondered how their morals could be so vastly different. Rather than pondering the subject, she decided to change it completely. 

“Are you enjoying your classes?” Not exactly the smoothest transition, but a transition nonetheless. Besides, Cosima hardly knew anything about Draco. She had heard things of him, and she could come up with a few rather unflattering adjectives to describe him, but she didn't really know about him.

It was Draco’s turn to roll his eyes. By the end of the year, both of their eyes would be stuck that way. 

“I have no desire to have small talk with you, Solaine,” he mumbled, turning his sole focus back to the quill in front of him. Ouch. 

She wasn’t quite sure what to say. So she said nothing. She sat and watched him practice and practice and practice. She watched his eyebrows furrow, watched his tongue peek out to rest between his teeth, watch his nose scrunch in frustration. And she thought about Draco some more, wishing that she wasn’t. After all, physical attraction is the means for no sorts of connection whatsoever. 

But with the silence, she was starting to forget all the ugly things that left his mouth. It was easy to when he possessed the face of an angel. She needed him to say something awful again.

“I just want to be best friends, Draco. I mean, come on, we have to spend all year with each other. Might as well get something out of it, right?” She thought that was surely the perfect thing to get some rude remark out of Draco. 

Then again, she had come to the realization that she didn't know Draco all that well. In fact, she hardly knew him at all. She would have no idea how his train of thought worked. So his response definitely threw her off her balance.

He leaned forward, his chin resting on his balled up fist. She knew this felt very familiar, tried not to think about the turn the conversation took last time this happened. She was unprepared. And there was that look on his face again. 

“I think we both know what you want to get out of this,” he whispered, still seemingly so far away from her that she had to strain her ears to listen. “And it’s a lot more than friendship.”

Her breath caught in her throat. She wanted Draco to say something that would restore her underlying disgust for him, not something that would make her heart drop. But he was terribly wrong, which comforted her. She did not want anything more than a friendship with him, and she only wanted that much because she liked to get on well with others. There was his ego again.

Somehow she felt that she would be able to use that to her advantage. 

So she mimicked his position, feeling just as she did the first time. Except she wasn’t going to get flustered and chicken out this time. At least, that’s what she told herself. 

“Are you sure I’m the one who wants something out of this?” Cosima asked, her voice somehow lower than Draco’s was. It was fine, though, because her new stance brought the duo closer together at the tiny table. 

It was no surprise to her that Draco wasn’t going to back down either. However, she was finding it very hard to keep her heartbeat slow, especially when he leaned in closer to her. 

“Positive.” Draco nearly mumbled, somehow seemingly closer than he was before he spoke. By then, she could probably count his eyelashes if she wanted to. 

“And why is that?” Cosima made no move to be any closer to him, too focused on trying to keep eye contact. His eyes were very intense shades of grey and blue and she felt that looking into them was making her even more nervous than the proximity of their bodies. 

The only thing he was focused on was getting as close to her as possible. Or rather, making her as uncomfortable as possible. That’s how she felt anyway. But it was an odd sense of discomfort. 

“You’re not very good at hiding when you’re staring at me,” Draco said, barely above a whisper at this point. She felt like he was getting closer with every word, and he nearly was. They were past counting eyelashes now; any move closer and she was sure they’d be kissing. 

For some odd reason, she lingered on whether or not she would enjoy kissing him. The only person she had ever kissed was Neville in their third year, just because neither of them had ever done it before. And Rowan the summer before, when they had both snuck a little too much of the muggle alcohol Rowan’s parents owned. But that was a different story entirely. 

Just when she came to the decision that she would not kiss Draco just for the sake of kissing someone, she realized that he had still been moving closer. It sent off fire signals in her brain and she immediately shot back in her seat. 

Chickening out was her speciality. But she had a very valid reason this time, did she not? Why would she ever want to kiss Draco? Scratch that, why would Draco ever want to kiss her?

Suddenly she had a lot more on her mind. Surely there was no way that Draco would ever feel any sort of attraction towards her. But then… why would he want to kiss her? Why would he even contemplate those things at all? Her heart was pounding in her ears and her brain seemed to be doing the same thing. 

And then the laughter started. 

“You should’ve seen your face, Solaine! You looked horrified. What, have you never been kissed before?” Draco’s tone was beyond mocking. It was all very clear now. 

“I’ve kissed someone before!” Cosima retorted, choosing to ignore the awful feeling settling in her stomach. She felt like an idiot, but yelling at Draco would only further that. 

“Sounds unlikely,” Draco said with a short laugh. 

She had never been so grateful that Draco had chosen a table far off from anyone else’s line of sight. Not only did it prevent people from seeing them together, it prevented anyone else from seeing possibly the most embarrassing moment of her life.

On the bright side, she had remembered what made Draco so hard to get on with to begin with. There was never a moment they were together that she was absolutely certain he wasn’t doing something either to mock her or make himself look better. 

The tutoring session ended understandably and uncharacteristically early. The days before, the two had remained in the library together until they had been forced to leave. On that Thursday, however, Cosima wanted to get away from Draco as quickly as possible. He didn't object.

On the way to her common room, her mind was racing once again. She couldn’t believe Draco had the nerve to embarrass her like that, and she had nearly fallen for it! She felt like such an idiot. How was she going to be around him again?

When she got to the common room and saw Rowan, she thought for a split second that she could confide in her. Then she realized how awful it would sound and how little of the story she would be able to get out. Rowan was more comforting when she didn't know what was wrong.

But she didn't want to worry Rowan anyway. Everyone already had enough to worry about without Cosima’s silly insecurities. Besides, it’s not like it was a pressing matter of any sorts. 

“Hey, Ro,” Cosima said, throwing herself on the couch where Rowan was and putting her head in her lap. Rowan gave her a pat, not looking up from her book. 

“You’re back early,” Justin said, coming down from his dorms and sitting in one of the armchairs.

Cosima simply nodded in response, not especially in the mood for conversation, mainly with Justin. She busied herself with trying to read what was on the cover of Rowan’s book. Rowan had never been a big reader, so she was especially interested. 

She managed to make out the word ‘Astronomy’, but nothing else, so she figured Rowan was doing extra studying for Astronomy class. Rowan always said she was too tired to pay attention during that class, and thought it was silly. 

As much as Cosima wished she could help Rowan with Astronomy, there wasn’t much to do in the class but pay attention. But that didn't mean that she didn't do Rowan’s homework whenever she wasn’t up to it. Honestly, she was sure she’d do almost anything Rowan asked. 

Which was one of the reasons she hated that she still felt like she was lying to her. She wasn’t, really, because there was nothing to lie about. She told Rowan about the tutoring, and nothing had changed since then. So it didn't really matter. 

She kept telling herself that as she dozed off, head still in Rowan’s lap. 

About four hours later, she woke up to find that she was still on the couch. From the snoring coming from above her, it was safe to assume that Rowan was as well. A blanket covered her lower body, though she had no idea who had put it there.

Seeing as they had school the next day, Cosima figured that they should probably go up to their dorms to sleep. She didn't make any plans to move, though, because she was far too tired. One night on the couch couldn’t hurt that bad.

Then she woke up on the floor. 

“Oh, Merlin, I’m so sorry! But we’re going to be late.” Rowan’s voice was full of anxiety and it was fading. She was in the dorms before Cosima even pulled herself off the floor.

Cosima didn't want to be late either. She had the same unwavering need as Rowan to be liked by all of her teachers, and being late wouldn’t help her at all. 

She glanced at the clock hanging across the room and discovered that she wouldn’t have enough time for breakfast if she didn't leave immediately. So she ran her fingers through her hair, tightened her tie, and ran out of the door. 

The first thing Neville asked Cosima was why she wasn’t with Rowan. The second thing Neville asked her was why she wasn’t wearing her robes. The third thing Neville asked her was if she had gotten any sleep the night before. Even when he was implying something rude, he managed to have an underlying sweet tone that she loved. 

She had ran back into the Hufflepuff common room before she answered any of those questions. One big problem she’d always had with her uniform was that it wasn’t very snug, to say simply. She didn't want to go the whole day without her robes, especially when she had no sweater to cover herself. Besides, she had Potions first, and Snape wouldn’t take well to her being out of uniform in his class.

By the time she retrieved her robe from the couch she threw it over, Rowan was already waiting with Neville in the corridor. 

“You look like a mess. It’s cute,” Rowan commented simply, looping her arm through Cosima’s as they started towards the Great Hall. Cosima wasn’t sure if she should feel self-conscious or not.

All they had time to do was grab a bite of toast. Cosima felt very grateful for Neville in that moment, who had nearly been late to his own class making sure they could get to theirs on time. She was lucky to have such a wonderful friend.

Professor Snape looked unsurprisingly discontented. Cosima was almost positive that he was just upset he couldn’t yell at the two of them for being late. She, on the other hand, was very relieved. 

She was also relieved that sleeping cramped up on the couch hadn’t affected her rest the slightest bit. Potions was getting harder by the day and she wasn’t sure that a tired Cosima would be able to keep up, because a coherent Cosima hardly could. 

“You look a wreck,” Draco muttered to her the moment they began working on their potions. 

Not in the mood to deal with him, Cosima kept her attention on the instructions in front of her. He already distracted her enough when he wasn’t talking; she really didn't need this. Besides, she wasn’t sure when she’d be able to deal with him again after the previous night.

“What? Tossing and turning thinking about yesterday?” Draco wasn’t very easy to deter. He said that so lowly that it was a miracle she was able to understand him. She wished that she couldn’t.

She didn't give him the satisfaction of a response for the rest of the class. It was oddly making her feel a bit better, knowing that she could easily ignore his pestering like that. The only problem was that it wasn’t particularly easy. 

She continued on nonetheless. It was a very vicious cycle happening so early on in their companionship, this constant badgering and ignoring and repeating. She truly wondered how they would manage to get any work done when this had already happened twice in about a month’s time. 

Somehow she was able to continue throughout the weekend, even up until Tuesday. She kept ignoring him until her and Neville had a much too serious conversation about their future. 

She thought Neville was a bright boy, a sweet boy, thought he’d be able to do anything he set his mind to. His face had lit up when she said that, and it momentarily stopped the nerves nearly wracking her body as she thought of her future, or lack thereof. 

If she ever wanted to become a Healer, she would need to keep Draco on her good side. She needed to be able to stay civil with him, even if it was only a month at a time, she needed to spend more time with him than she was spending ignoring him. 

The only problem was that he seemed intent on making it physically impossible for her to manage. 

“You’re not possibly still mad, are you?” Draco has asked incredulously when they met in their usual spot in the library that Tuesday night. She couldn’t tell if he was genuinely confused or if he was mocking her and she hated it.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Cosima snapped, not wanting to deal with his silly, humiliating game of cat-and-mouse. 

“I haven’t done anything, for starters.” 

“You embarrassed me, Malfoy!” There was no use in pretending that she wasn’t hurt by his actions. It wasn’t about whether or not she wanted him to kiss her, it was about the common decency of not treating your peers like a chew toy. 

“There’d be no reason to be embarrassed if you didn't want to kiss me.” The smug look on his face made Cosima want to cry. She couldn’t believe that he wasn’t understanding something so simple.

“I didn't want to. But that’s not the point! How do you expect me to be around you, to sit here and help you, when you don’t even respect me?” 

The smug look on his face was gone. There was that confusion again. It was like Draco didn't understand how basic human emotions worked. Anything beyond shame and power seemed beyond his reach. 

He looked hesitant to speak, his bottom lip between his teeth, his eyes looking anywhere but her. Now she was positive that he was unable to process human emotions. 

“You think I don’t respect you?” 

“Aside from humiliating me, calling me a blood traitor, taking the piss out of everything and everyone I care about, mocking my grades, why would I ever think that?”

Rather than some snotty remark like she was expecting, Draco still had that look on his face.

“I won’t bring up the kissing anymore.” 

His response was short, empty. But with that look still taking hold of his features, refusing to soften up even the tiniest bit, Cosima felt worlds of emotion in those few words. She had real, authentic hope that this would work out. That maybe Draco had more than his face value seemed to show. 

That hope carried on throughout the week, but it was diminishing. And not for the reasons that one would think. Rather than teasing Cosima, he hardly seemed to speak to her at all. Ironically enough, she was starting to miss the old Draco.

She just wanted him to learn how to mock her without all the malice. She just wanted them to be friends. She could have no idea what was running through Draco’s mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I really hope you enjoyed the chapter. I know it seems kind of messy, but that's honestly what the entire dynamic between the two of them is; messy. I also hope you enjoy Cosima as a character. I'm trying to give her more depth because, even in fanfics, it seems like Hufflepuffs are simply kind static characters and nothing else.  
> I was honestly suffering from a bit of writer's block, and then it was like I wanted so much to happen at once! I'm kind of not good at establishing my own feelings in real life, so it's a bit hard for me to put it on my characters without it seeming rushed or not making any sense, so please tell me what you think of their interactions!
> 
> Look forward to a different point of view next week >:) as well as a (kind of?) surprise. 
> 
> Please, please tell me what you thought of the chapter, the story, the characters, their relationship. Anything you liked or disliked. Anything you're looking forward to. Also, please tell me anything you'd like to see! This is a work in progress, and I'm very open to any new ideas, because my own are always subject to change.
> 
> Have a good day/night! Hope you're all well.


	5. Small Update

Hello everyone! I’m very sorry I haven’t updated. A lot has happened; I started school and then immediately got horribly sick. During my time being sick, I have been unable to write hardly anything. 

Now that I am better, I’ve realized that I haven’t much motivation or inspiration for this story. It’s one that I started on a whimsical, not really sure where I wanted to take it or what I wanted to happen. I figured it would come to me as I wrote, but that’s not what happened. 

I think that, for now, I have to discontinue this story. I hope I’ll get a spark of inspiration soon for this story specifically. 

With that being said, I have had a few ideas for other stories. I am a few chapters into another Draco story with a much more secure plot and better characterization, but I want to spread that one out before I make it public to ensure that I know 100% what I’m doing. 

However, I have been feeling soft and fluff lately, and I’m really wanting to write a story with more fluff than meat in the sense that: I want to make a love story. Nothing over complicated or complex, just a story where a boy loves a girl and a girl loves a boy. 

I don’t know if the people following my story only enjoy Draco fics, but I do hope that some of you genuinely enjoy my writing and want to see more of it regardless! If not, that’s understandable, but either way please help me! 

I have a few ideas with stemming plots and countless places to take them. I need to know, though, what YOU guys would enjoy the most. Or rather, WHO you would enjoy the most. 

So, if I were to publish another story while this one was on hold, would you rather it be about:   
Neville Longbottom  
Ron Weasley  
Oliver Wood  
Cedric Diggory  
Dean Thomas

Please, please give me feedback and continue to support me! I promise this story will not be on hold forever. I just jumped the gun with my inspiration and it dried out too quickly—I just need time to recharge. Thank you so much and I hope you’re all doing well!!


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